The Curse of the Ever Growing To-Read Lists (or things that annoy me written on the (wrong side of 12 am))

So over at Goodreads, my wish list has 644 books on it. No matter how many books I read, it refuses to budge from that number and hovers sometimes (to my horror) near the 700 mark before I drag it down.

Then I realized, as I went book-adding-crazy that after a while all the books start to seem the same.

Dystopia? Well yeah, everyone and their mother is writing one now. I am tired of it. Tired enough that I can make the honest claim that I will not be reading one any time soon. In fact, it doesn’t make me go “oooohhh!” any more but “ergh, here’s another one.”

It’s just…I wish they’d stop it and move on to something else. I really hate it when people jump onto the bandwagon, ride coattails (or attempt to). Yeah okay, The Hunger Games was seriously awesome. It carved its niche out and it will remain there, ready to stun future generations (or not, if the dystopian society has already been realized) but can we please move on to butterflies and evil clowns now? Please?

All the pretty girls in pretty dresses looking pretty and intensely at the camera. Those covers. As beautiful as they are, as gorgeous as the girls and the covers are, I’d like to move on to something different now. Or maybe, we could just have some people keep it the same and others being different. Okay, fact, one thing that annoys me more than most is when the same picture is used in various covers of novels in the same genre. I’m talking about the novel Ivy (that I reviewed) and Tantalize. Same model, same picture – it gets boring. And okay, what the heck is wrong with the people who created the cover for Passion by Lauren Kate?

This cover? Look at it. It’s hideous. Hideous. They have photoshopped it so much that they have mutated the model beyond recognition. Plus, I read in the comments that the person from whom the picture was ganked (some Deviantart artist) and the model had no idea about it. I’m not sure if they are credited or not but if not, why not? And can someone please tell the people over at Delacorte Books that this cover is hideous and should be sent to the archive of covers too hideous to see the light of day? Her face and her arms do not match. The colours are wonky and is that a rose she’s holding? Seriously? Do you really want to get that cliched? The other two covers were so awesome.

What happened?

Whatever did, I will not be buying this book. I have the other two and I would have liked to get the third one to add it to my collection but no. I refuse. Unless they have a different cover in the UK and I can order from there. Blergh.

What else do I have to rant about?

Ah yes. Hype.

I can understand marketing. Heck, I appreciate it because it allows me to ascertain whether I really want to read the book or not. However, when the hype for a book is excessive, I am repelled instead of attracted. Especially when I have read the book in question and know for a fact that the amount of squee being generated is really not worth it. Books that are excessively hyped about tend to made their way down my reading list. Books that no one talks about and I feel confident that it presents a mystery, I am more willing to read.

Cheese in novels. Maybe it’s because I’m a lit major and it’s what I do. Critique novels. Read between the lines. Maybe that has spoiled for me reading purely for entertainment without this English-accented voice in my head running a commentary. For instance, I was reading Beastly and my head and I, we had the following conversation:

For clarity’s sake, “Conscience” is the English-accented voice:

Connie (Conscience): *gagging* I can’t breathe!
Nafiza: Shut up, I’m trying to read.
Connie: *clutches figurative bosom* The cheese is killing!
Nafiza: …
Connie: Did you read what he just said? Does he realize how idiotic and sappy he sounds? Who talks like that? He’s a modern day teenager. Are we supposed to believe he is channeling some sort of medieval prince. “My love?” Honestly????
Nafiza: Chill out, Cons, it’s just a book.
Connie: *screeching* JUST A BOOK?? I’ll have you know, you wench, that this is not just a book. Do you know the power of words? *gets distracted* This is ridiculous. Why don’t they just admit they know the Disney story? They know how it’s going to end. And excuse me? Doesn’t this book take away from Beauty and the Beast the one thing that made it different?
Nafiza: And what’s that?
Connie: It’s Beauty who is supposed to save the Beast. Do you see Beauty doing any saving? Oh no, some guy is attacking her and she’s yelling out to the night air, “Oh Adrian, saaaaveee me,” in the hopes that Adrian is doing his creeper thing with the mirror (at least Edward only terrorized Bella) and guess what, she’s right! He is! And so he saves her. And you know what else? She doesn’t do anything to save herself. She basically has no personality. PLUS he sniffed the clothes she wore. CREEPY.
Nafiza: It’s called being romantic, Connie. You clearly don’t know your YA romance.
Connie: I certainly don’t want to  know it. Good night!

She amuses me. Connie does.

About these ads